A New Love
by Natsumi Tsuchi-Ookami
Summary: Kagome's been training for along time. Becoming stronger not only in physical strength but in spiritual as well.
1. Secret Training

"Ye have worked hard Kagome and far exceeded that of extending my own aura at your age" voiced an elderly woman named Kaeda.

"Arigato, Kaeda-babaa, I am sure this miko training will come in handy very soon" spoke an eighteen year old Kagome. "Shall we pick up were we left off when I come back? I want to take an extremely long bath."

"Of course my child" She said standing up and grinning widely at the she thought must be tired. "I shall tell everyone were you have gone."

"Arigato, and make sure to keep an eye on Miroku-san," she said standing up herself and walking towards the curtain door, pushing it aside, but suddenly stopping. She turned her head and said in quite excided voice, "Oh, do not forget that today is an extra special day, so I have a big surprise for everyone!" and with that she skipped off in the direction of the lake.

Kaeda look puzzled as to why this was an extra special day, but overwhelmed and curious as to what the big surprise was. As she went to go start lunch Miroku, Sango, and Shippo entered the hut.

"Ah, Oba-chan I was hoping to get a word with Kagome about this surprise I have been hearing for a while now" told by Miroku as the other two nodded in excitement.

"Yeah she keeps saying she has something she wants to show us, but every time I ask what it is she says I'm just going to have to wait, and that it is a surprise" said the eager little kitsune.

"So, where did Kagome-chan go?" Miroku said in his innocent ton.

"She is on her way to the lake" Kaeda replied.

As that was said he lifted an eyebrow and left the hut without another word, also heading of in the direction of the lake.

"InuYasha is going to kill him for this" Shippo said while the others just nodded in agreement.

"I am sure this will be quite a sight to behold" the monk whispered, following the trail left by the innocent Kagome. About ten feet from the lake....

**CRASH!!!**

Miroku hit something and then fell to the floor with a large thump.

"I should have known," he sighed, picking himself up and poking the unmistakable barrier, "I guess I will only have Sango to look at now" he said walking back to the hit to 'enjoy' the presence of a certain exterminator.

But unknown to anyone what the young miko was real doing. Right next to the lake Kagome was swinging an extra large branch (which should be way too heavy for her) like an expert swordsman. "Okay, I have mastered that. I will just have to have branch in some bushes. Sitting cross legged on the floor, eyes closed, one finger in the water, she spoke, "Ice" sending a pulse into the water and opened her eyes as the water froze. Closing her eyes once more she muttered, "Fire," the frozen lake cracked and the water underneath it started to boil. Opening her eyes to see how she did (all the water had evaporated). She raised her hand over the lake and said, "Water," and rain magically pored from her hands, filling and cooling the lake once more.

"Well, now onto disguises." Kagome said with a big smile on her face. "These are my favorites" she said standing up and looking at her reflection in the lake.

Coming her hair with her hands her hair started to turn white with every touch as well as lengthening it. "Now for the ears," pointing to her ears and dragging them up to the top of her silver head of hair. And with a flick they turned to dog ears.

"Clothing," Kagome put a hand on her shoulder, dragging it down to her wrist. Her white school sleeve turned into a long red one. Repeating the same the same thing with all the other articles of clothing on her body as it turned into an all too familiar red Haori.

"Now the rest of the body." Clapping her hands, which suddenly became muscular and grew claws, then put a hand to her face, swiping it over her neck, all the way to her feet. Looking at her reflection as Inuyasha.

"Per- oh, forgot the voice," said Kagome as Inuyasha, pointing to its throat and said, "Mimic."

"Ah, perfect," the disguised Kagome said, "Now to turn back to myself and take a much deserved bath."

Then with a "Vanish" Kagome undressed and went into the lake to take her bath.


	2. The Unexpected Surprises

When Kagome stepped into the hut a big brown fur ball jumped onto her shoulder and said, "So what is so special about today Okaa-san?"

"I'll tell you Shippo. Today is my eighteenth birthday, the third year anniversary of when I first arrived in this era, and the third year anniversary of when I unsealed Inuyasha, meaning it's his third rebirthday," she said with a large smile on her face.

"OOOHHH, this is a really special day," the kitsune said also smiling. "So what's your big surprise Kagome?"

"I'll show you if everyone is here," she said looking around to see one pair of eyes missing, "Where's Inuyasha?" she said frowning.

"I believe he said he smelt something and left," noted the monk, "I don't think he will be back for a while."

"Well then, we're just going to have to find him 'cause I don't want to wait anymore," Kagome stated, "Lets all go and surprise him. I'll find him while Shippo tells me which way is upwind of him."

After a few moments Sango, Miroku, and Shippo nodded there heads out of eagerness as well as to see if the could actually sneak up on the hanyou.

"OK then let me spread my aura," as this was said everyone felt a sudden happiness in them. Kagomes' aura spread all the way, deep into the forest, as she suddenly felt the hanyou and retracted before he could notice, "Found him," pointing in the direction of which Inuyasha was in, "Shippo which way is upwind?"

"Well if we head straight towards him he shouldn't be able to smell us," he said still on his adopted mothers shoulder.

"Let's go, and make sure to be quiet," as they all set of in the direction Kagome pointed to.

Unwilling to keep quiet for long Kagome spoke while she was still out of earshot, "I know you'll love my surprise. I've been perfecting them for so long. Oh, and it's going to be so funny when I do this one thing, and we'll never have to worry about being to hot, cold, or thirsty whenever we camp again."

When she stopped talking everyone else looked at each other and then her.

"Kagome-chan is that why you take so long on your baths?" Sango asked.

"Yes" she replied.

"And why you have that barrier around the lake as well?" asked the monk in his innocent tone.

"Yes. Wait how do you know about the barrier," she said turning around accusingly and then yelled, "HENTAI!!!"

**BONK**

Sango had hit him hard enough to make him fall but light enough to make sure he didn't make that much of a sound.

Both being satisfied they started walking again, Shippo still on Kagomes' shoulder pointing the way.

After about five minutes Kagome just halted. Sango and Miroku almost bumping into her, as they saw what made there friend stop, and just stood there in shock. It was Kikyo and Inuyasha hugging. They didn't seem to notice the rest of the gang.

"Inuyasha," Kikyo said, "How do you feel about me?" lightly pushing away just enough to see his eyes but still be in his embrace.

"I love you Kikyo, I always have, and I always will." At his last words the undead priestess kissed him.

"I have to go now, we will see each other very soon," and with this she was gone.

Lifting his fingers to his lips, He turned around about to head back to his friends when he found they had been watching him the whole time. This was extra weird, usually only Kagome would be the one watching, this time it was the whole group. He looked at Sango, than Miroku, (both still in shock) to Shippo (still on Kagomes' shoulder) and finally to Kagome. She was just standing there, emotionless, but in her eyes were hurt and betrayal. After a few moments of locked gazes she ran.

Kagome ran as hard as she could, heart pounding, and crying. She made it to Kaedas' hut in about a minute. No one was in there and she was thankful for that. She went her pack, took out four of the ten shards the group had collected, and put them on the small table. She put everything she owned in her pack and ran once more. When she got to the well she just jumped in without stopping.

**Back to the others in the group.**

"Inuyasha, how could you do that to Kagome-chan?!" the exterminator yelled.

"No wonder why she goes back to her own era so much," spoke the monk.

"Yes. I'm surprised she stayed with you this long. I know I would have left ages ago if it were me," said the exterminator.

The monk nodded in agreement and added, "And on such a special day too."

"Housie-sama, may I borrow your staff for a moment?" she asked.

"Of course," he said handing it over, "but whatever for?"

"For this!"

**SWAK!!!**

Hitting Inuyasha out of his daze

"Hey! What was that for!" the hanyou growled.

"It was for upsetting Kagome-chan," handing back the staff.

"We better get back to the village and await Kagome-samas' arrival" walking back the direction they came.

**Present time**

'_This was just one time to many Inuyasha,' _Kagome thought as she exited the well and entered the shrine still in tears. Running to the kitchen she grabbed whatever food doesn't expire fast and stuffed into her backpack. Then running to her room and grabbed some winter, summer, and night clothes.

Hearing a ruckus, Kagomes' little brother Souta ran to her room. "What's going on?" he said seeing his sister running around the room shoving whatever she can find in her pack.

"Souta," she said kneeling and hugging her brother.

"Kagome, you're scaring me," he said, trying to get out his sisters' bear hug.

"I'm sorry," she said, letting him go and wiping her tears, "is anyone else home?"

"No, just me."

"Oh. Tell every one I'm sorry, but I probably won't be back for another year," she said putting her head down, "I need to sort out my thoughts and feelings. As well as I'm not going to be traveling with Inuyasha any more."

"Why not?" Souta said disappointed.

"Because he chose an undead priestess over her, that jerk" voiced a brown blur that landed in front of Kagome.

"AAAHHH!!!" Souta yelled hiding behind his sister.

"Shippo, how did you get here? I thought you couldn't go through the well," she said looking confused, but then seeing her brother she said in a reassuring tone, "It's okay, he's a friend."

"I don't know, I just hid under your hair when you were running and suddenly ended up here," he said pointing to where he was standing.

Souta carefully walked behind Shippo and lightly grabbed his tail knowing they hated there tails being grabbed, "It's real!"

"Of course it's real!" he yelled taking his tail back.

"Don't think bad of him Shippo, the only other demon he's ever seen is Inuyasha, and he's only half," Kagome said suddenly looking sad, "we better go before somebody else comes cause' I hate saying goodbye," turning to leave.

"Okay, by Souta" Shippo waved and then jumped on Kagomes' shoulder.

"I will miss you Onee-chan!" Souta called out as they reached the well.

"So will I!" and with that she jumped.

"Kagome, where are we going?" Shippo sighed happy to be in familiar territory.

Just the two of us."


	3. Holy Dragon Fang

"Where will we find a Holy Dragon? And why do we have to go visit Totosai?" the curios kitsune asked.

"I will hopefully be able to get a fang from the dragon. And I want Totosai to forge a sword from it." Kagome said it as if it had already been done.

"Where will we find the dragon?"

"In the Northern regions."

"Were does Totosai live?"

"In the Western?"

"Do you think we can beat the dragon?"

"Most likely. But I am hoping we won't have to fight for it."

"Oh, what do you mean by that Okaa-san?" the kitsune spoke. Confusion clearly on his face.

"Well I heard there's a dragon graveyard in the north so maybe we can find a Holy Dragon fang in the bones."

"Why do you need a Holy Dragon fang?"

"So I can heal and attack whenever I want. So basically it's the Tetsusiaga and Tensaiga put together."

"Wow, that's really going to be a powerful sword, you better hope Sesshomaru doesn't find out or he'll try and take it." Shippo said with a concerned look.

"Don't worry I'll mask its power from anyone. Besides, I'm going to put a seal on it so that only true allies can use it, meaning, Sango, Miroku, and of course you Shippo," she smiled.

"Wow Kagome. You're going to be so powerful!"

"All I want is to finish my mission with the Sacred Jewel, than live in piece with my friends," giving Shippo a reassuring look. "Shippo, when you get older and stronger, you'll stay with me right?" Kagome said with hopefulness clearly in her voice.

"Of course, Okaa-san, I'll protect you for as long as you want me to," he said proudly puffing up his chest.

"That's good, cause' I'd hate to be left alone. I already miss Sango and Miroku."

"So do I, we had to leave them. But don't worry; I won't leave you by yourself."

"Thank you Shippo. I'm glad that I'll always have you to fall back on," she said giving him a hug.

"So how long do you think it will take for them to notice that I am gone?"

"I do not know. But hopefully it will be when they won't be able to reach us for a few days."

**Three days later at Kaedas' hut.**

"Hey, where's Shippo?" Sango asked.

"I don't know, he should have been bugging me to bring Kagome back by now," the hanyou said.

"Well, can you bring Kagome back? She has the other six shards and we need her to find the rest on our travels," the monk advised.

"All right, I'll be back in about an hour." Inuyasha said holding his back. '_Hopefully she's forgiven me by now, I can't believe all that happened on her birthday and the day she unsealed me.' _Inuyasha thought before jumping in the well. "Oh well, she always forgives me."

As Inuyasha stepped into the house, Souta skidded to a halt in front of him. "I thought I heard your voice. What did you do to Kagome? She ran to her room crying and shoving stuff in her pack saying she can't travel with you anymore, and the demon named Shippo said you chose an undead priestess over her. Kagome said she won't see us for a year, she said she had to sort out her thoughts and feelings. Then she left." Souta said with one breath and hitting Inuyasha with all his might but doing nothing. "I've only seen her cry like that when dad died. What did you do to her?! Tell me!! Tell me!!!"

"Whoa, whoa, slow down and stop hitting me." He said, trying to calm the seven year old down. "You said she can't travel with me anymore because I chose Kikyo instead of her." He said trying to separate all the information the boy was saying. "Where is Kagome now?" he said, sniffing the air, searching for her sent.

"She is in your time. She said she won't be back for a year." Souta cried.

"Did she say anything about where she was going in my time?" Inuyasha asked in desperation.

"She didn't say anything, she just cried. Who is Kikyo, and why didn't you pick Kagome?! Is she not good enough??!!" Souta yelled as loud as he could.

"I have got to go look for your sister. If she comes back can you tell her that I'm sorry?" He said avoiding the boys' questions.

As Inuyasha jumped in the well he thought, '_I guess you didn't forgive me this time Kagome,'_ and, '_you're not ready to go out by yourself. You're going to get yourself killed.'_

At the hut Inuyasha got accusing looks from everyone when they noticed that Kagome wasn't with him.

"Where is Kagome-chan, Inuyasha?" Sango asked.

"Some where in this time with Shippo," he answered.

**Back to Kagome and Shippo.**

"I'm surprised the rest of the gang hasn't found us yet," Shippo said sadly, walking besides Kagome.

"Yeah, they probably think that I'm still in my time. I wonder what Souta will tell Inuyasha," Kagome said worriedly to the little kitsune.

"Your brothers really nice and he seemed to care for you a lot."

"He does. I just don't give him credit for it."

"We should get him something nice when we come back."

"Your right," she sighed, "We have arrived!" she yelled, looking up at a huge crater/valley.

"It looks scary, Kagome," he whined, crawling onto her shoulder.

"Don't worry Shippo, I'm here." Kagome replied reassuringly.

"I heard that only people of pure hearts and souls can go through the barrier," he said seeing the obvious blue barrier in front of them.

"And have good intentions for being there." She said, looking up at him. "Do you think I'm good enough Shippo?"

"Of course Okaa-san. You're the goodest person I know." smiling at her.

"Thank you, Shippo, and you say, 'you're the most qualified person I know,' if you want to be formally and grammatically correct," she corrected.

"Can we go get that fang now," trying to dodge any other replies that my come.

"Yes, let's hurry. Graveyards give me the creeps," she said warily, while stepping through the barrier.

"How will we find out which one is a holy dragon?"

"By the aura that hopefully still surrounds it."

"What if the aura is gone?"

"It's not, cause' I just found it," she ran to the largest dragon skeleton (which is humongous) "Now to ask for the fang," bending on her knees, "Please oh Holy Dragon, may we have one of your fangs, so that we may forge a sword from it, to help us gather and complete the Shikon No Tama, then finally keep it from evil ever getting a chance to wield it's power?" eyes closed.

First, there was silence as she opened her eyes. Then with an earthquake, the top of the fang started to crack just about strait across the fang. And lastly it fell off to roll to a stop right in front of the young miko.

"Thank you very much. I swear that I shall do my very best to never use this for evil!" she said excitedly while raising herself to pick up the fang.

"We will take very good care of it!" Shippo yelled in thanks to the skeleton.

"Let's go Shippo before we bug this or any other dragon any further," she whispered to the nodding kitsune as she jogged her best out of the graveyard.

"We are going to Totousais' next aren't we?"

"We'll start on our journey there tomorrow. We'll camp at the edge of that forest tonight," she said, pointing to the trees about half a mile away. "This thing is pretty heavy and we're going to need all the rest we can get for the long trip."

"At least it won't take as long as it did to get here.

"You're right," she sighed, "how bout once we make camp, if I'm not that tired, I'll sing you a song to get you to sleep, since you've been really good, and there aren't any other adults around?" she offered.

"I'd love that, your singing is fantastic," he smiled. Then, as he ran ahead he yelled, "Hurry up Okaa-san!"

"I'm coming!" she yelled back, as she did her best to catch up, holding a gigantic fang in her arms.

**The Others**

"The sun is almost down. What are we going to do?" an exterminator asked the monk.

"Don't look at me, he is the one who finally pushed Kagome over the edge," he replied pointing to the hanyou.

"We'll have to use Kikyo since she is the only other person who can collect the shards," he answered harshly.

"You know that if we have Kikyo in our group and we run into Kagome, which we will because she has shards, she will want to come back into the group even less!" she said angrily.

"She is right you know," the monk said, "and which protector of the jewel should actually get it?" he asked Inuyasha.

"I know, to Sango, but I don't know, to Miroku," he replied. "She is the only choice we have right now, and not that I'm happy about this idea, but Kagome could be dead by now or kidnapped," he said sadly.

"I know that many things could have happened to Kagome by now," Sango whispered, "So, even though I don't want to, Kikyo can join us," she sighed in defeat.

"But if we see Kagome we are going to blame everything on you," the monk added.

Inuyasha nodded. But in his head he was still thinking about what might be happening to Kagome right now and who she might allow to join her in her quest.

**Kagome again**

"Are you done Shippo? It's bedtime," Kagome asked. A couple of days ago after giving Totosai the fang, he pledged that he would be making a sword for her. He thought it was worthy of his work and that she wouldn't abuse the swords power. (Kagome is going to pick the sword up in month. Right now she is doing a little journey to be ready for the sword when she gets it.)

"Uh-hu, will you sing to me now?" the kitsune asked eagerly.

"All right, come lay in my arms while I put on the barrier," and by the time he was comfortable arranged in her arms, the invisible barrier was up. "What song do you want me to sing to you tonight? And by the way we will have two guests in a couple of minutes so make it a good song," she advised with a twinkle in her eye.

**Kagome and Shippo**

"They're awake so we can go farther now.

"Too bad we had to leave so soon. I wanted to find out what the little girls name," Shippo pouted.

"I know. But we'll probably see them again sometime," she said, trying to reassure him.

"Maybe," he said, still a little disappointed. Then changing the subject, he said, "So where are we off to next?"

"I thought we could go visit my old friend Jinenji to refill our medical supply while we wait for the sword to be maid," she said, remembering the gentle giant she met three years ago.

"How long will it take us Okaa-san?" he asked not wanting to take any long journeys.

"About five days from here," she answered, but seeing his sad face she added, "But we can stop at as many villages you want so that you can play the children and I can help the adults."

"OK, but that's going to take us longer," he said warily.

"Oh, so you don't want to stop at the villages?" she said sarcastically.

"No! No! I do! I do!" he said, not knowing that it was just a joke.

"Any way, visiting the villages will take longer, so the wait for the sword will seem shorter and there also might find some shards, we only have nine," she said, reassuring him that they will visit the villages. (Kagome has gotten a few shards since she left the group)


	4. To Our Moderators

Greetings to the fine folk that moderate our site.

Myself, along with many, have been writing and posting on your fine site for years now, some of the better examples of up and coming writers out there are now suddenly finding some of the stories we've come to love at risk of being removed without the chance to even rectify our errors.

For some, that means the permanent loss of a story. While I don't have anything that I believe violates your terms of use, there are those out there that are never able to recover a story in its original form, this is something I find to be almost worthy of a legal action, as while we cannot claim ownership of a character, the stories are OURS and simply destroying them is something that is inexcusable.

It's quite easy to simply add an MA rating, additional filters or even a simple requirement for a free membership to read the stories presented here, and would cut down on hateful anonymous reviews and posts at the same time, so I have to question as to why such a thing, in all this time, simply wasn't added.

If you're worried about falsification of a registration then have an appropriate disclaimer and then there can be no dispute, you took your steps and the PARENTS didn't monitor their children, if that is even your concern. If it is more of a personal view or desire then please at least let people know and give them a chance to remove a story that you and yours find offensive, most people on the site are actually rather cordial when it comes to such requests.

While I cannot say for sure if this letter will even reach those that may be willing to listen, of if it's more akin to a wide spectrum purge in preparation for something bigger, please understand that you are going to be loosing a LARGE number of your writers, and thus your income from a lack of readers if there is not some level of action taken to help with this situation.

For those that may agree with this, please feel free to sign on and send this to the support server, maybe we can get some movement on this.

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If you could do what some other authors have done and post this petition as a temporary new chapter on some of your stories to help spread the word? It would help a lot it's how I found out about this.


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